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Up All Night To Get Loki: 5 Best Moments From The MCU (So Far)

Ben Fee
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Up All Night To Get Loki: 5 Best Moments From The MCU (So Far)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been part of our lives now for seven glorious years, conquering both the big and small screens in its attempt to forge the largest shared fictional universe known to man and earn Disney enough money to freeze as many heads as they want until the end of time. With the recent release of Avengers: Age of Ultron and the upcoming Ant-Man, Marvel Studios have proven that they are still the people to beat when it comes to blockbusters, even if the number of cases of “Superhero Fatigue” are increasing daily. Symptoms include an aversion to spandex, difficulty maintaining enthusiasm for another origin story, and a sense of ennui when faced with even the most  cataclysmic CGI-rendered death and destruction.

So let’s take a step back and revisit the top 5 moments that made us fall in love with this crazy universe in the first place.

  1. I’m Iron Man

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As seen in: Iron Man

Up until this moment, Iron Man was just another in a long line of cookie-cutter superhero movies, albeit with some superior casting and a devastatingly charming leading man. The same tired origin story – white guy acquires power, is a douche for a bit and then becomes a hero after some personal tragedy – the same unmemorable plot (something about that reactor he was building?), the same boss-battle at the end which went on just a little too long. But then, at the end, when the weight of tradition dictated that the hero should hide his identity to protect those he loved, Tony Stark went another way and we loved him for it.

 

  1. That Corridor Scene

As seen in: Daredevil

An absolute breath of fresh air, Netflix‘s Daredevil dispensed with the bright costumes and flashy powers for a series with a much more grounded, gritty feel, really underplaying the “super” and “hero” elements of the character and giving us a street vigilante who could take a punch and return it with pleasure. This darker tone was epitomised by episode two’s corridor fight in which Matt Murdock descends into the lair of a local gang of human traffickers to rescue a young boy. With shades of Oldboy, the ensuing fight is visceral, brutal and unforgiving – made all the more so by being filmed in a single take.

 

  1. The Hulk Catches Iron Man

As seen in: The Avengers

When I saw moment this for the first time in the cinema I let out an involuntary “wheeeee!” of pure, unadulterated delight. You’re the first person I’ve told that to. I had become a child again, my mind sandblasted of any grown-up skepticism or reserve, leaving me floating in a sea of total enjoyment.  This moment comes in the closing minutes of the Avengers final battle with Loki and his invading Chitauri after Iron Man has saved New York by flying a nuclear missile through a wormhole and lobbing it at the massed alien fleet waiting to come through. Job done, Tony finds himself unconscious, falling to Earth and unable to save himself. Cap and Black Widow look on helplessly and Thor starts his hammer a-whirling to intervene but, all of sudden and out of nowhere, here comes the Hulk, plucking the tin man out of the air and sliding down a building to safety. After hours of dysfunction and in-fighting, this is the moment that seals them as a team, the moment the Avengers are truly born.

 

  1. Baby Groot Gets His Groove Back

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As seen in: Guardians of the Galaxy

It’s hard to imagine now, but before GotG came out there were some serious doubts whether this film was going to be a hit. Having a walking tree and a talking raccoon as two of your main characters seemed to be a great way to kill a franchise and a lot was riding on a largely unknown property. 121 minutes later and the world was a different place. Rapt audiences across the world sat in cinema auditoriums, tears still drying on their cheeks, watching a tiny plant bopping away to the Jackson 5 and it was literally the greatest thing ever.

 

  1. Every Single Time Tom Hiddleston Appeared on Screen

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As seen in: like, half of them.

This guy. By all rights, Thor should not have worked. A Norse god is banished to Earth and saves a small New Mexico town, all the while learning humility and how to be a king. Colour me skeptical. But then Loki turn up; cunning, mischievous and charmingly deadly, Tom Hiddleston plays the campy villain to the hilt while at the same time imbuing Loki with a deep pathos, a yearning for his adopted family’s affection which he has already denied himself and hates them for it. In Avengers, Loki is the perfect foil for the newly-minted super-team, recently empowered by Thanos and with a galaxy-sized chip on his shoulder for Thor and his new mates. But it is in Thor: The Dark World that we see the God of Mischief’s humanity, his real love for his brother, his rage at the death of his mother, and the depth of his machinations that find him seated on the throne of Asgard.

 

Have we missed any moments out? What have your favourite moments been so far?

Is Simon Pegg right?

Andrew Corban
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Is Simon Pegg right?

Recent news revealed Simon Pegg, comedic geeky actor known for Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, has been feeling disdain towards geek culture. In an interview with Radio Times, Pegg expressed his worry that people have grown to embrace sci-fi and otherwise geeky films and hobbies over more deeper, more intellectual films of the 70s and 80s.

 “…I’m very much a self-confessed fan of science fiction and genre cinema. But part of me looks at society as it is now and just thinks we’ve been infantilised by our own taste…’’

This sparked a mass outcry from many people who felt Pegg’s attitude towards a community that has helped him to fame is hypocritical, as Pegg has enjoyed many roles in genres he has recently criticised. He recently put up a lengthy rebuttal explaining his viewpoint in a little more detail, explaining that he still supports and enjoys being part of geek culture, but still feels a lot of more artsy films with a deeper message are being edged out by sci-fi and superhero movies promoting style and flair over substance. You can read the whole thing here; it’s a pretty great article.

‘‘On one hand it’s a wonderful thing, having what used to be fringe concerns, suddenly ruling the mainstream but at the same time, these concerns have also been monetised and marketed and the things that made them precious to us, aren’t always the primary concern (right, Star Trek TOS fans?)’’

You can guess where we stand here at Geek Pride. We LOVE geek culture and feel it should be celebrated, as it makes people happy, it gives people an identity and it creates loving communities that can bond over what they love, whilst bashing each other with lightsabers (this is not a euphemism!)

At the same time we understand its escapism and that’s there’s nothing childish about enjoying Star Wars or Pokemon or whatever happens to be your poison. However I can understand the idea that some people take it all too seriously to the point where they neglect their own life and others. As far as putting political issues or charity above geekiness, I don’t think it’s in anyone place to judge people based on their free time. If people want to debate the Age of Ultron on the internet over, say, voting, so what? That’s up to the individual.

I feel that he’s just been so close to nerd culture for such a long time now, that being exposed to the more fanatic sides and seeing it all just grow so big has just spooked him a little!

But to quote Pegg from his latest article…

 

‘In short:

I love Science Fiction and fantasy and do not think it’s all childish.

I do not think it is all generated by dominant forces as a direct means of control…much.

I am still a nerd and proud.’

 

 We wouldn’t have it any other way Simon, don’t worry us like that! you can check out his full article / explanation HERE 

The Furiest of Roads, and the Elephant in the Room

The_Dark_Mike
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The Furiest of Roads, and the Elephant in the Room

Fury Road has been out less than a week and already people are masturbatorily penning origin stories of a random dude with a guitar in it that gets all of about 2 minutes screen time. This is a fairly good indication of how much of an incredible film Mad Max: Fury Road is. It is a furiously (pun intended) and unabashedly actiony slice of sex wee that dosen’t relent from start to finish. It’s literally a car chase- that’s plot. There are kasplosions aplenty, epic vehicular gymnastics, and a dude that plays guitar that’s SO DAMN MYSTERIOUS WE MUST KNOW MORE.

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Hardy’s performance is an exact continuation from what we’d expect from Max’s character, he doesn’t say much, he’s haunted by his fringe insanity, and he does lots of manly jumping things. At the end SPOILERS THAT SMELL LIKE BURNT HAIR AND SPIDER FAECES Max just moves on to the next adventure, proving that he is indeed still mad.Also, he only does the Bane voice like once, so that’s good.The supporting cast are equally as bonkers and our arguably dual-lead in Ms Theron’s Furiosa is the very definition of a bad ass.

If you haven’t realised by now, Fury Road is a film I, quite frankly, fucking loved. It was the perfect sequel and part of a Hollywood trend I am ecstatic about- throwing $250m at my favourite B-Movie franchises. It started (arguably) with Predators and continued with the awesome that was Godzilla (fuck you, it was brilliant) . It has eschewed the Gritty Remake Epidemic of the late 90’s/00’s (why film is 10 years behind comics I don’t know) and has given creedence to the OTT, single-plotted ‘roid fest joyrides while maintaining a modern cinematic edge. Honestly, if you don’t like these films you didn’t like the originals, or you don’t understand them.

There’s seemingly only one group of people that appear to not like Fury Road- a laughable group of “men” (read “fedora wearing simpering neckbeards”) that have somehow concocted the implication that the film is a vehicle (again, pun intended) for a feminist, no, a mysandrist agenda and should be avoided at all costs because Charlize Theron is the vanguard of the apocalypse and clearly our dicks will all fall off if we but set eyes upon her works.

I mean, for fuck sake lads. The point of the film is that A) Max is Mad, and B) There are cars and explosions of said cars. We are seeing a freak occurrence that is a microcosm of the world that was created originally in 1980 that continued to build into the intricate monstrosity that we are privileged to be a part of, 35 years later. There have been several “arguments” made to this cause, and I think it would be remiss of me not to quash these with an iron fist.

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“You don’t have to do what he tells you”

This line is uttered from one concubine to another, when Max points a gun at them and attempts to take over the War Rig. Neckbeards are claiming this is a perfect example of the “anti-men” agenda. But when you consider the goddamn context it becomes pretty crystal that a woman who’s only interaction with men has been one of sexual abuse and violence is going to be a negatively charged one. When apply the context, it’s obvious that a scared woman told another equally scared woman not to follow the actions of a gun-toting stranger. Yes, this breaks the convention a little (but not really because they totally do as he says a minute later) but our protagonist is not a traditional leading man, is he?

He can’t snipe!

Later, Max is facing down the impending horde of vehicular carnage with a few well placed sniper shots. He tries his darndest to hit his target,but alas, he misses. In walks Furiosa, who takes the rifle from him and cracks off the perfect shot into the enemy ranks. Surely this portrays our male character as weak, he’s had to pass the weapon off to a female, with one arm no less! Well, yeah, he has.The question you all seem to be missing however, is “where did he get the rifle from?”

The War Rig, idiot. Max had no guns of his own. He had recently just survived a series of car crashes, had been half- drained of blood, and had several hits to the face. This, unsuprisingly, compromised his sniping ability. And the rifle he was using belonged to Furiosa: It was in her vehicle. It belonged to her. Why the hell is it suprising that she shoots HER rifle better than a half-dead, insane stranger? A guy who, to our knowledge across 4 movies, doesn’t know how to snipe.

The men are all ugly, the women are Godesses

Let’s face it- the apocalypse hasn’t been kind to our menfolk.If they’re not pasty and full of tumours, then they’re gloriously overweight or just plain uggos. Aside from our lovable protagonist, it’s a fug-fest from start to finish. On the flip side, the females are portrayed as callipygous sirens, swaddled in nought but white robes. But what seems to be the completely missed point, is that they are supposed to look like that-they are concubines. The female contingent is either octogenarian or a nubile sex-slave. What should be celebrated here is that both parties break the tropes of their archetype. They represent the change that is necessary for thriving in a world completely fucked by earth-shattering events. They are the new status quo and this is echoed in the films end. Where this “women are the only leaders” bullshit falls apart almost instantly is when we look at any tribe of people that isn’t the one the movie has as a main focus. All of these are lead by patriarchal figures. In the films end, Max isn’t “leaving it to the women folk” to run the Citadel, he’s just getting the fuck out of Dodge, just like he was at the start of the movie. Nothing has changed for him. Max is the Agent of Change throughout the franchise, who ironically cannot escape the constant threat of his own madness. That’s the point of every movie post the original.

So please, please go and see this movie. This is THE summer movie. A good friend of mine said that to teenagers Fury Road is going to be their Predator, and he’s cotton pickin’ right. It’s irreverant, brilliant, and awesome. And if this article hasn’t convinced of the lack of misandry within then I urge you, from the bottom of my beardy heart, to fuck off back to tumblr and fucking stay there until you asphixy-wank yourself into a coma with your own sense of righteousness. It’s you , along with everyone else that’s too easily offended, that is ruining the film industry. Pack it in before you suck the fun out of everything.

It’s been a lovely day.

Mortal Kombat X – Ripping Off More Than Limbs

MrJoncore
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Mortal Kombat X – Ripping Off More Than Limbs

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Who doesn’t love some ultraviolet shin kick spamming? I have to admit actually that I don’t enjoy it as much as I feel I should but some people get a little more than a joystick waggle out of it if you know what I mean. Mortal Kombat X is the latest installment of Nether Realms fabled beat em’ up series but there are some things that didn’t quite feel right to me when I started to read up about it.

The roster to the game is seemingly a little basic. This bugs me and don’t get me wrong, ripping someone’s spine out as Predator must be as shaft ticklingly exciting as it sounds however, somehow I feel like I’d rather see some more MK characters that we all know and love making an appearance. A lot of generic players have been added making it look more like an intentional downfall to pave the way for DLC characters, how many soldier types can your game have?

An interesting turn of events are the new fighting styles which allow you to play as 1 of 3 variants of your favorite fighter, but much like most games with that kind of function, once people have figured out the best possible combinations we are going to see the experimentation factor drop considerably.

I can hear you all saying “What about the fatalities, I bet they’re brutal!” and yes, you are correct but I will have to stop you right there. Remember that one time you saw real boobs? Let’s take out awkward family instances just to be safe, but do you remember? They’re amazing, but the more you see them the less impressive they become, I guess not far from heroin but in the end you look for new boobs and… I think I’m getting off track. They get boring is the gist of that analogy. If that wasn’t bad enough, you can now pay real money for easy fatalities which is exactly what it sounds like. Speaking of money, Goro was a pre-order character… HOW IS THIS OKAY?! Sorry, lost my cool there.

Graphically the game is immense boasting the some of the best (granted slightly nauseating) gore I have ever seen, this opens up a whole new world of detail for new fatalities as you see eviscerated parts of various organs making their debut.

Let’s take a look back to the yesteryear that was 2006 shall we? When the PS2 had its hold on the market and the choices you had for games was pretty much endless. In that year Mortal Kombat Armageddon was released fondling 58 characters compared to X’s 25, character creation slots, player passwords, Kart racing, custom fatalities and a full story mode with original characters. X seems like a heartless step backwards for the company that forced the creation of the ESRB.

There are 2 main reasons I called this article “ripping off more than limbs”. 1 because it’s hilarious and witty as you can all tell. And 2 more importantly, I see us being ripped off. I understand that companies need to keep up with the times. I understand that MK is more about quality over quantity, however wouldn’t you rather see a game like Armageddon with a few new characters, and some gut wrenching new fatalities rather than a bloated cash grab? Why not bring back fun stupidity instead of obsessing over overdone (but still awesome) dismemberment. Ripping off doesn’t only mean money by the way. We all seem to be falling for these mediocre releases that instead of impressing just leave us with an empty feeling inside.

The game is said by many to be incredibly solid but I’m not sold, we’ll just have to wait and see how many of the original Kombatants will return for a fee and how long the game will last. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a fight with a Sexy space ninja from the earth’s core lined up in Armageddon. I expected more Kontent if I’m being honest.

XCom: The Board Game Review

Tom Sorsby
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XCom: The Board Game Review

(Previously on XCom: Updates Within…)

In space, no one can hear you scream.

The same is true here on the planet Earth after the aliens have landed, but that’s because everyone else at the table is screaming along with you. Better put on your brownest trousers, because things are going to get messy. Let’s talk about XCom: The Board Game.

Spawned from the remake of the ancient Microprose PC Game by Firaxis and 2K, the first thing you have to know about XC: TBG is that it’s not just a straight port from PC to Tabletop – it would have been pretty easy to slap a few dozen models into a box, print some unit cards and have something vaguely reminiscent of the Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons board game – which was fun in its own way, but just as that wasn’t D&D, a straight-up slugfest wouldn’t be XCom.

Instead, Fantasy Flight’s take on the XCom franchise sees you and (ideally) three other unfortunates tackling the alien invasion from all angles. You don’t quite get the despair of being caught out of cover by Mutons in this Tabletop edition, but it’ll make you delightfully dismayed in other areas instead. With four roles to choose from; Commander (budget and interceptors), Central Officer (satellites and relaying info from the game app), Chief Scientist (HOW ARE YOU SPENDING THE BUDGET SO FAST?) and Squad Leader (deploys the right unit for the right mission), the game will keep you interested across many runs.

Not Pictured: The smile on the Squad Leader’s face when they get new guns.

So let’s talk about playing it. You need the app to run it, which basically does the job of telling you what dangers you’re facing this turn – where the UFOs are detected, what flavour of bad they’ve dropped off and what the people of Earth are panicking about this time. The app is key to the role of Central and also serves as the game’s rulebook. Despite its way-coolness, I would have also liked a conventional rulebook and random dice-roll table to spawn enemies from.

In my game, I was a very excited Commander, with a smartphone-equipped Central Officer and sleepy Scientist who’d both played the game once before, joined by an XCom uninitiated Squad Leader who I think initially would rather have been playing Munchkin or Arkham Horror. I say “initially” because this game will suck you in like a Mass Effect Biotic. The first hook comes when you realise the budget will be tight – and everyone needs a slice of that pie to actually do the thing they want to do, be it putting satellites in orbit, squints in the lab or boots on the ground. I misjudged this initially and ended up with a lot more UFOs still hovering over South America than the Brazilian government were comfortable with. The budget is always a compromise, and they say the mark of a good one is that nobody goes away happy.

Dice rolls on a d6 and d8 are used to determine success in actions, be it dispatching an interceptor after a UFO or sending a Heavy and a Sniper off to one of the game’s Missions; the responsibility of the Squad Leader. The d6 has two chances for success, and the d8 works as a threat-o-meter. Roll the successes you need on the d6 before you roll underneath the ever-increasing difficulty threshold on the d8, as relayed by Central. This is a pretty simple mechanic to wrap your head around once you’ve seen it in action, but it’s not all about rolling dice.

Like Arkham Horror, only 2/6 sides on the d6 will get you success – but there are no Blessings in XCom to boost that.

Certain Soldiers and Elite Soldiers get bonuses to their skill checks on-mission, meaning more dice can be rolled to get their success (matching the right Soldier to the right skill required also helps!), and the Science Officer can cultivate a suite of abilities for the Officers to use, like giving Command more interceptors, researching new weapons for the Squad Leader, and giving Central’s satellites the power to effectively battle the UFOs in Orbit – presumably with deadly lasers.

The combination of easy to learn, hard to master, challenging difficulty and engaging social side mean that I heartily recommend XCom: The Board Game for your collection, and can’t wait for a chance to play it again. If you don’t have a smartphone, get a Central who does!

Help me! (My MH4U addiction)

King Darren
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Help me! (My MH4U addiction)

I was once a proud PS3/4 trophy hunter. So glorious were my achievements that I was featured as “Mr Trophy Hunter” in PSM3 UK’s Aug. 2012 issue. My life changed after I bought the New MH4U 3DS XL at launch. I had played the entire Monster Hunter series before and knew how addictive it was. Yet, I was confident MH4U would not enthrall me so much. How wrong I was!

Do I look happy?
Do I look happy?

So I created my character (who looked like a king), chose my starting weapon (Greatsword), and burned through the low rank village quests. I took my time upgrading weapons and making whatever peice of armour was better than the last with no regards to full sets. I got friendly with my palicos which were there for aesthetic purposes. 15 hrs went by in a flash.

Boredom sank in. I decided to check out online play. Keen to show off my skills, I joined some gathering hall, and all of a sudden, I was fighting this gargantuan spider called a “Nerscylla”.

It was intense, but very enjoyable with the other hunters there. I pulled no punches and didn’t die, I ended up getting some tantalizing spidey parts. Awesome! They seemed to enjoy having a proficient hunter around that didn’t cart (die) all the time, so they begged me to stay for their next mission. With my ego stroked, I relented.

Before I knew it, I was on a  wafting rock in a thunderstorm. There’s this massive hideous thunder rock dragon creature that took a huge chunk of my health, so I kept my distance and hit it when there’s an opening. We won, and I acquired more monster materials. Woot!

My friendly team told me that I should get a full set of the same armour, which I had no idea was useful. They recommend a full Tetsacubra set. We farmed him a bunch of times, and lo and behold, I had my first full set! My triumph was superficial as the addiction got worse. Like a famished Tigrex, I craved for more. (GROWL!)

“Hunt, get loot, hunt for better loot”. It was a familiar tale. I juggled between solo and online play. Time elapsed seamlessly. I had meals at irregular times (at least, I didn’t eat raw meat), I did bathe though (didn’t want my stench to repulse monsters, I got stink bombs for that).

My social life consisted of talking to monster hunters online. I made a lot of cyber friends while losing a few real ones. Due to my competency, I even created a reputation which did no favors to my already-inflated ego.

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I know right!

It took me over 100 hrs before I made it to the G-rank hall in Dundorma. I stood in awe of his “immenseness”, a giant king with a high forehead. He gave out blank scrolls to me which are filled up with strange symbols by completing quests.

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The King bowing to another King.

With the addition of Apex monsters, the G-rank quests were harder than the others. You needed wystones to survive them, and the way to obtain them is to complete more solo and online quests. Tough as they are, it was nothing a decent group can’t handle.

So I have done all the low, high, and G-rank quests. It’s over right? I’m finally freed from MH4U bondage, right? WRONG! It was only the beginning! There were guild quests to get the elusive relic weapons, and my loot fetish only made my addiction worse.

Even with a strong armour set, the beasts found in lvl 140 guild quests could kill you in a few hits. The drop rates for the ultimate relic weapon were abysmal as well. After witnessing countless deaths, increasing my blood pressure with verbal curses, a month of consistent farming, I finally found…a powerful relic Greatsword. It wasn’t the best, but it was pretty good.

A month of consistent farming...for this?!?!
A month of consistent farming…for this?!?!

My joy at being liberated was short-lived, however. My loot proclivity may have diminished, but the game fed on my trophy hunting ways with its own varied achievements. Some were easy while others were very time-consuming (getting all 60 monsters of a small size)

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Getting there…

As it stands, I’m still trying to get all of em! My PS3 n’ 4, Xbone, Wii-U, are all collecting dust as we speak. What’s worse, I’m bed-ridden for all the wrong reasons. Meals are being served on a tray by my royal maid, I NEED HELP!

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Predictions for Arrow Season 4!

Andrew Corban
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Predictions for Arrow Season 4!

So Arrow Season 3 had it’s finale last night and it looks to be setting up a LOT of things for the future, whether it be Arrow, or something else entirely…

SPOILER WARNING! SPOILERS FOR ARROW SEASONS 1, 2 AND 3, AND SPIN-OFF SPECULATION

So let’s get to it, Malcolm Merlyn is now the new Ra’s Al Ghul. It’s an interesting twist that makes me wonder what Malcolm’s motives would be now and how he would use this power and what for. It seems his only motivations this season have been getting the League off his back and protecting Thea. Now those two things have been wrapped up where do you go now? Maybe we could see the long term effects of the Lazarus Pit affecting Thea, therefore giving Merlyn something new to do with his new position?

There’s the hint at Season 4’s villain, Damien Darhk. He’s the leader of the evil organisation HIVE and Ra’s Al Ghul’s arch rival. This is who Ra’s Al Ghul was trying to kill with the bio-weapon in the finale but failed to; if Ra’s was willing to level an entire city to kill one man then he’s gonna be a big deal!

We also have a hint of Diggle suiting up for the next season. This is especially interesting since Diggle is a character exclusive to the show and not from the comics, so he doesn’t have a comic book superhero alias he can evolve into like the rest of them have. Maybe he could be adapted to be a different hero? Who knows? I don’t!

We also have our midriff queen Thea taking up the mantle from Roy and naming herself ‘The Red Arrow’. But Ollie’s right, we all prefer ‘Speedy’ anyway! Like I said before, the Lazarus Pit affecting her would be a great way to go for her next season, especially since it would mirror Roy’s struggle with madness after the Mirakuru, since the Lazarus Pit is supposed to drive people insane!

Ollie and Felicity are driving off into the sunset and it could not be cheesier, but Oliver says he’s abandoning his identity as Ras and as the Arrow, which of course can’t be completely true since there’s a season 4! The biggest theory right now is that the series will be a lot more light-hearted next season and that Oliver Queen will end up closer to his happy-go-lucky comic book counterpart and call himself ‘The Green Arrow’. Not much different in name but identity is a big theme for Ollie and if he’s happy now, a less brooding Arrow is needed! I think we’ll all be happier about there being less brooding and more fun, because we’ve been hammered with it this season!

Ray is finally getting his act together and getting the miniaturisation sorted on his suit! If you don’t know the comics, the Atom is like DC universe’s version of Ant-man, rather than a pseudo-Iron Man. From what I hear though, the Atom will probably leave Arrow to join a whole other show…

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Legends of Tomorrow is a recently announced spinoff from Arrow and The Flash featuring Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter, a time traveller (nice casting there CW!) joined by a bunch of other people from its sister shows, such as the Atom (Brandon Routh), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), Heatwave (Dominic Parcell), Firestorm (Robbie Amell and Victor Garber), and new comer hero Hawkgirl (Ciara Renee).

And then there’s Caity Lotz as the White Canary! But she died right? She did! But confirmed by the new trailer, Sara will be reborn in the Lazarus Pit, which has been conveniently set up in the past season! Personally I think a lot of this season of Arrow’s problems have stemmed from them trying to set up this new show, so it better be worth it!

Legends of Tomorrow First Look Trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MubNoWQiSc

Is there anything I might of missed? Do you have any of your own theories regarding Arrow Season 4? Let us know!

Fan Art Feature: Rust Cohle

GuruMel
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Fan Art Feature: Rust Cohle

Long time no fan art! Real life interfered, like it does, but rest assured I hope to once again showcase the finest and weirdest in obscure fan art for you lovely readers.

For my grand return I bring you my pick of the best fan art of Matthew McConaughey’s creepy True Detective, Rust Cohle. There is a huge amount of fan art for this guy and some of an incredibly high standard. Just like the show did for viewers, the character has clearly captured the imaginations of many talented artists. I have honestly found it so hard to choose just five images to show you that strongly recommend you all have a search and see what is out there.

First up is this image from Andrey Pankov. It’s taken from a screencap and seems to be a popular image to start from, but I love the mood in this. There’s some real skill and talented didgital painting, but also it isn’t just a cold rendering of a screencap, there’s emotion in this image.

Next up, this gloomy piece from Saad Irfan. I love the texture in this image, it goes beyind the smooth realism of a lot of digital painting, and includes some of the sinister, supernatural elements of the show. This is a man who is haunted, almost inhuman – a great way to see Cohle.

Next, this image from Tara Phillips. You might notice this is likely taken from the same image as my first pic, but I liked it so much I had to include it. From my previous comments you might think I don’t like realism, but just look at the lighting and skin-tones on this! A beautiful portrait, a little detached and cold, but a brilliant likeness of the character.

A little treat for you now, and something a bit different, this image from Riccardo Minervino absolutely blew me away, not because of the great choice of pose, the realism or the movement in the image, but because this is in fact an insanely detailed and well put together 3D rendering. I love to see fan art in different media, and 3D modelling always impresses me. Job well done! You should all go and check out the other pics, showing the uncoloured components and the construction of the piece.

Finally, this image from Reddit user SomeWeirdSin. Here we see Cohle in Carcosa, witnesed whatever horror he saw at the final showdown. The artist has also done an amazing image of the young Cohle. For starters, I’m always impressed by hand drawn art and the skill here is incredible, masterful use of the media, and the right choice for the image in my opinion. The expression of horror on his face truly sums up the series, and is a great insight into the character, while also giving the feel of an old master or impressionist painting; the artist says he was inspired for the face by a painting by Ilya Repin, a Russian realist painter from the early 20th Century. I love this image, there is real passion and insight behind it, this is fan art done for the love of the show and the character, everything good fan art should be.

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I’d like to thank all the artists I’ve featured in this piece (and previous fan art features), keep doing what you’re doing, you amaze me with your talent, skill and passion for your fandom. This is what geekery should look like!

If you have any suggestions for a characters you would like to see featured here please comment below, or send us a message!

First Look Trailer For Supergirl Released

Callum Tyndall
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First Look Trailer For Supergirl Released

The first look trailer for the new Supergirl TV series has just been released and has somewhat surprised me. Because I’m actually pretty excited now.

According to the show’s synopsis, “Supergirl is an action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist), Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be. Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents’ help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex (Chyler Leigh), and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret. Years later at 24, Kara lives in National City assisting media mogul and fierce taskmaster Cat Grant (Golden Globe Award winner Calista Flockhart), who just hired the Daily Planet’s former photographer, James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), as her new art director. However, Kara’s days of keeping her talents a secret are over when Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), head of a super-secret agency where her sister also works, enlists her to help them protect the citizens of National City from sinister threats. Though Kara will need to find a way to manage her newfound empowerment with her very human relationships, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.”

Now, Supergirl isn’t a character I’m hugely familiar with and I’m not even a massive fan of her cousin. But with this extended trailer I’m already pretty hooked on the ideas that look to be explored. With the show being picked up by CBS, a sort of sister company of the CW, and worked on by members of the same team behind Arrow and The Flash, there’s not only potential for crossover down the line but it looks like we’ll be getting more of the human side of superhuman. Starting with Arrow and since expanding into shows such as The Flash, Gotham and Constantine, the DC TV universe, though not faultless, has strived to find the human heart behind the masks and looks set to continue the trend with Supergirl. Interestingly, the trailer makes several mentions to the famous cousin and though it may seems somewhat unlikely given Henry Cavill’s  presence in the cinematic DC Universe and the way in which they seem fairly determined to keep the TV and movie universes separate, its exciting to think we could get an appearance down the line. Either way, Supergirl seems to have a lot to offer and it’s great to see a female led DC show hit the screens. Hopefully we’ll get to see more soon.

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm46-envrHo

Trailer for Fox’s Lucifer appears, barely resembles Lucifer, surprises nobody

Andy Haigh
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Trailer for Fox’s Lucifer appears, barely resembles Lucifer, surprises nobody

So for those that don’t know the first trailer for Fox’s upcoming Lucifer appeared the other day, and, well let’s just say it’s exactly as woefully bad as I was expecting it to be really.

A while back I commented on the problems networks faced when adapting comics for TV, the main thing evident here though is they haven’t even tried. This isn’t just indolent fanboy whining over a character’s hair not being the right colour (FYI Lucifer’s hair is blonde in the comic and his appearance is based on a young David Bowie) this is more genuine confusion over networks decisions to take something which has its own fanbase, has more than enough potential to appeal to a broader adult audience and also has the potential to become a genuine talking point for being something different (a bit like how everyone was talking about Hannibal because of its artistic embellishments as well as its great cast and occasional horrific moments) but then just jettisoning pretty much everything identifiable about it.

Mike Carey’s Lucifer isn’t good enough for for Fox apparently who seem intent to just boil things down to their very base concept and then crudely shoehorn them in to already established TV formulas. Lucifer, instead of Mike Carey’s vastly engrossing tale of Hell’s former ruler growing bored and abandoning his kingdom for life on Earth with lover and ally Mazikeen (a fearsome warrior and leader who, it should be said, would make for a great female character for TV based on comics, something distinctly lacking at the moment), is now a police procedural with some supernatural elements bolted on. Because rather than a tale of the Devil spending his days in a piano bar, pontificating on existence, mortality and the capriciousness of God while taking the odd trip to the realms of other capricious gods, I’m pretty sure the one thing TV viewers have been yearning for is another police procedural right?

This is an epic tale, in the true sense of that word, the kind of story that could easily span five seasons of TV at say 12 episodes a season and have great engrossing characters with a real sense of story and be up there with critically acclaimed TV like HBO’s Game Of Thrones.

Instead of that we get Tom Ellis as Lucifer and Lesley-Ann Brandt as Maze (apparently a diluted version Mazikeen, you’re surprised I can tell) who become embroiled with the affairs of Lauren German’s LAPD homicide detective after a pop star is murdered outside Lux Lucifer’s nightclub, doesn’t that sound great!

My initial response to the trailer?

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Not too long ago when I read that a comic, especially a more adult oriented comic, had been optioned for a film or TV I got cautiously optimistic about the amazing potential any film or TV show could have but now it just elicits a world weary sigh as I contemplate how completely and utterly it’s going to be bastardised to the point it barely resembles what it’s supposed to be as though networks are in competition to see who can do the worst adaptation.

I thought The CW’s hatchet job of iZombie or Veronica Mars The Zombie Years was pretty awful in its own right nevermind how it’s a woefully bad adaptation of something quirky which could have been a cult TV hit but Lucifer is even worse in the adaptation stakes and it leaves me wondering exactly what the upcoming Preacher adaptation from AMC is going to be like. AMC has already pulled off adapting one comic with the smash hit The Walking Dead but let’s not forget that The Walking Dead is riddled with numerous problems of its own.

Check out the trailer below.

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